Courses 2009 - 2010

LAW H 580 Competition in Health Care

Credits: 3

Competition in Health Care will examine the role competition and its opposite, regulation, play in the health care industry in the United States. The antitrust enforcement agencies – the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission – believe strongly that promoting competition in health care is critical if health care costs are to be controlled. Many of those involved on a day-to-day basis in the health care industry disagree. Some health care professionals argue we can cut costs and improve care only through increased collaboration and cooperation. The course will consider the clash of these values by examining how competition is treated in the health care reform law, what weight the federal antitrust enforcement agencies give to values other than competition, the accelerating trend towards consolidation that is occurring in the health care industry today (arguably in reaction to the health reform law), integration among providers, including increasing hospital acquisition of physician groups, and the traditional bias in health care to seek regulatory solutions instead of competitive answers (e.g., state certificate of need laws). No prerequisites. While some health law or antitrust background can be useful, any student can succeed in this course without a health law or antitrust background.